HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: Public Policy

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Keren Borenstein Nativ

Coordinator Email: keren.borenstein@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours:

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Keren Borenstein Nativ

Course/Module description:
Businesses operate in the arenas of policy makers in order to influence the ‘rules of the game’, reduce risks and create business opportunities, because a significant part of their profitability and degree of competitive advantage is affected by the policy makers' decisions. This course deals with political strategies of businesses and how through them businesses operate to preserve existing situations or create new values. In addition, the course focuses on a prominent means of implementing political strategies: lobbying. Lobbying is legitimate, inevitable, and when it is conducted properly it is even desirable in a liberal-democratic regime. However, lobbying may also have potentially negative results and may harm public trust in the Knesset in general and in legislators (Members of the Knesset) in particular. During the course, we will define what lobbying is and characterize its types, review its development in a comparative perspective and discuss its advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, we will learn what is “quiet politics” and what is “noisy politics” and how these notions are related to political strategies of businesses. We will get to know the theoretical literature in the field and the applied models for the effective management of political strategies through analysis of cases 'from the real business world'.

Course/Module aims:
- Acquaintance with the fundamental concepts of Businesses’ Political strategy.
- Understanding the importance of combining the business strategy in the market environment with the political strategy outside the market environment for the business’ profitability.
- Acquaintance with the major theories in the field of Business Political Strategy.
- Acquiring applied tools for analyzing threats and opportunities in the non-business environment.
- Acquiring practical tools for formulating a political strategy in the non-business environment.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- To explain basic concepts in Businesses’ Political strategy.
- To identify threats and opportunities in the non-business environment as part of business management tools.
- To formulate political strategies in the non-business environment.
- To analyze selected issues in the political activity of businesses by utilizing theoretical and empirical tools.

Attendance requirements(%):

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction:

Course/Module Content:
- What is the meaning of the term: 'businesses as political actors'?
- Distingusion and comparison between the different environments in which businesses operate.
- What is strategy in general and what is political strategy of businesses in particular?
- What is the meaning of the term: 'political capabilities of businesses'?
- Distinguishing between the different political strategies and their utilization.
- The process of formulating and implementing public policy and how it is integrated into the political strategy of businesses.
- What types of power do businesses hold?
- What is the relation between the type of power and the characteristics of the business’ sector in which businesses operate?
- What is 'quiet politics' and what is ' noisy politics'?
- The function in a business that manages its political strategy.
- Corporate Social Responsibility and philanthropy as a political strategy.
- What is lobbying? What are its roots and types? and reviewing the growth of professional lobbying in Israel.
- The relation between business political strategy and lobbying.
- The relation between public corruption and the regulation of lobbying.
- The regulation of lobbying in the world: a comparative view.

Required Reading:
• דויטש, ל' (2022). השקיפות במלחמה בהון-שלטון הכרחית אך לא מספיקה. בתוך ע' הראל פישר, ת' הוסטובסקי ברנדס ול' פילר (עורכות), מבטים על שחיתות שלטונית: לקט עמדות (עמ' 105 - 110). המכון הישראלי לדמוקרטיה. המר, י' וכהן-אליה, מ' (2011). שתדלנות וההליך הדמוקרטי. עיוני משפט, לג, 593 – 630.
• טבת, א' וגל-נור, י' (2019). מבוא: הרגולציה פנים רבות לה. בתוך א', טבת וי', גל-נור (עורכים), רגולציה בישראל: ערכים, אפקטיביות, שיטות (עמ' 9 – 20). תל-אביב: הקיבוץ המאוחד.
• טל, ה' (2010). השדלנים המסחריים בישראל: צמיחת התופעה, שיטות הפעולה והסדרת הפעילות. פרלמנט, 66, אתר המכון הישראלי לדמוקרטיה.
• משה, נ' (2015). גופים להתמודדות עם שחיתות ציבורית במדינות שונות. הכנסת, מרכז המחקר והמידע.
• נחמיאס, ד', ארבל-גנץ, א', ומידני א' (2010). מדיניות ציבורית, יסודות ועקרונות. רעננה: אונ' פתוחה. עמ' 150-170.
• שפירא, א' (2010). שדלנות ושדלנים: מבט תאורתי היסטורי ומשווה. פרלמנט, 66, אתר המכון הישראלי לדמוקרטיה.
• Bach, D., and Bruce Allen, D. (2010). What every CEO needs to know about nonmarket strategy. Sloan Management Review, 51 (3), 41–48.
• Baron, D. P. (1995). Integrated strategy: market and nonmarket components. California Management Review 37, (2), 47–65.
• Chari, R., Murphy, G., and Hogen, J. (2007). Regulation lobbyists: A comparative analysis of the United State, Canada, Germany, and the European Union. The Political Quarterly, 78(3), 422-438.
• Coen, D. (1997). The evolution of the large firm as a political actor in the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy, 4(1), 91–108.
• Culpepper, P. D. (2011). Quiet Politics and Business Power. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 4: The Netherlands and the Myth of the Corporatist Coalition, pp 82‐114.
• Culpepper, P. D., and Thelen, K. (2020). Are we all Amazon primed? Consumers and the politics of platform power. Comparative Political Studies, 53(2), 288-318.
• Hillman, A. J., and Hitt, M. A. (1999). Corporate political strategy formulation: A model of approach, participation, and strategy decisions. Academy of Management Review 24 (4), 825–842.
• Lawton, T., McGuire, S., and Rajwani, T. (2013). Corporate political activity: A literature review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15 (1), 86-105.
• Levi-Faur, D., and Rozen Bachar, Z. (2011). Corporate regulatory strategies in context: Telecoms and electricity reforms and the new order of regulatory capitalism. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 19(3), 235-255.
• Mauricio A. L. A., Lára J., and Brynhildur, D. (2019). A literature review of the history and evolution of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 4(1), 1-23.
• Moss, D., McGrath, C., Tonge, J., and Harris, P. (2012). Exploring the management of the corporate public affairs function in a dynamic global environment. Journal of Public Affairs, 12(1), 47-60.
• OECD. (2009). Lobbyists, government, and public trust, increasing transparency through legislation. Vol. 1.
• OECD. (2021). Lobbying in the 21st century: Transparency, integrity, and access.
• Oliver, C., and Holzinger, I. (2008). The effectiveness of strategic political management: A dynamic capabilities framework. Academy of Management Review 33 (2), 496-520.

Additional Reading Material:

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 80 %
Assignments 20 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %

Additional information: